Inside Edge New Media Gathering
Monday June 2, 2008 5:30-7:30pm
Squamish Adventure Centre

Evening Sponsor: KDB Systems (http://www.kdbsystems.com)

Agenda

5:30-6:00pm Social networking - refreshment and snacks (Pause Cafe seating area)

6:00-6:45pm Sponsor presentation - KDB Systems

Kerry Brown of KDB Systems will be presenting a short introduction to Microsoft Windows Server 2008. This will be followed by a question and answer session (and fabulous prize giveaways) on Server 2008, Vista, or whatever other computer questions you may have. Kerry recently spent a week at Microsoft for the 2008 MVP Summit and has all the latest scoops and news out of Microsoft.

6:45pm-7:15pm Further discussion on Squamish KBI Strategy as presented at last meeting (http://businesssquamish.com/squamish_next/publications_archive)

7:15-7:30pm Open forum and close

Some more information on the sponsor and the evenings presentation:

KDB Systems (www.kdbsystems.com)

I’ve lived in Squamish since 1964. Like Squamish I’ve been through several changes since then. After graduating from HSSS I attended Simon Fraser University majoring in philosophy. There’s not a lot of jobs for philosophers so I ended up with a career in logging which lasted for about twelve years. When Macmillan Bloedel closed down their Squamish division I was transferred to the Stillwater division at Powell River. This didn’t last long as I missed Squamish. Within a year I was back in Squamish helping my father start Brown’s Video and later Brown’s Electronics. During this time I became interested in computers and started taking night courses in Novell and Banyan Vines eventually earning the CNE designation for Novell 2.2 and 3.11. Twenty years later we decided to close the family business and I started KDB Systems.

KDB Systems specialises in the IT needs of small businesses in the Sea to Sky corridor. We do everything from consulting on your business IT needs to sourcing and installing the equipment and software. Since Windows 95 I have been involved in the Microsoft Technical Beta programs. I have been a beta tester for most of the versions of Windows since Windows 95 and all versions of Windows Server since Windows Server 2003. I am currently beta testing Windows Small Business Server 2008 which will be released later this year. In April of 2006 I received the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. I subsequently received the award again in 2007 and 2008. “Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who are awarded for voluntarily sharing their high quality, real world expertise in offline and online technical communities.

Microsoft MVPs are a highly select group of experts that represents the technical community's best and brightest, and they share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others.” In my spare time I operate a web forum to help people with Windows Vista. Early in the beta testing when it was still called Longhorn I got very excited about the security changes in this version of Windows. Despite my excitement I knew these changes would cause a lot of pain by breaking older poorly programmed applications and drivers. In June of 2006 I started VistaHelp.ca to help people transition from older versions of Windows to Vista. When Vista was released to the public in January of 2007 I was a featured expert on the Microsoft Vista home page.

The traffic to VistaHelp.ca went from around 40,000 hits a month to 850,000 over night. VistaHelp.ca is currently ranked number two in a search for “vista help” on google.ca and number nine on google.com.

The evening's presentation will not get too technical. The Q&A doesn’t have to be limited to Server 2008. General questions about Windows, Microsoft, or whatever are fair game. I have a direct contacts with several of the product teams at Microsoft. Whatever they allow to be public I can speak to.

There will be some amazing prizing available through random draws throughout the evening:

Two (2) full NFR (Not for resale) copies of Windows Vista Ultimate
Four (4) copies of the Microsoft 2008 launch kit which includes a one year evaluation license for Server 2008 Enterprise Edition,
One (1) full NFR license for Visual Studio 2008,
One (1) voucher for SQL Server 2008 (when it is released)
Three (3) free one year TechNet subscriptions,
Fifty (50) discount offers for training on Microsoft products